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Marg Jarrell |
Grace by Sam Walters; O'Canada led by Rick Evans and the obligatory toast to Queen and Canada
Head Table: Ron Sloan, Introducer; Gordon Armstrong, Speaker; Pres. Betty-Lou Souter; Sgt. at Arms, Art Wing; Margaret Jarrell, Rick Vanderkuip, who will introduce the guests.
Marg Jarrell was the Rotarian in the spotlight this week. She joined Rotary in 1998 under the sponsorship of Chris Bangham and has been very active serving on many committees including, Programme, Bulletin, and World Community Services. She is the managing director of Adolescent Family Support Systems and is a Past President of United Way.
A very welcome addition to the club.
Guests: - Greg Shupe from Niagara Falls Rotary; 3 guests of Lezlie Murch, Eric Garcia, Clint Nolman, Arem Karaptyan and a guest of Gord Armstrong, Freda Overholster of the Salvation Army.
Birthdays - May 4th Ron Fast, May 5th Liz Palmieri and Jaquelyn Bradshaw [Liz was absent.] Note to new members - tradition in the club is that you donate $10 on your birthday, just in case your sponsor failed to tell you.
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Jaquelyn Bradshaw and Ron Fast
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Brian St. Hilaire |
Pres. Betty-Lou advised that she had received a memo from a Rotarian in P.E.I. to remind us that 2005 is the year of the Veteran and the 60th anniversary of victory in Europe.
The President asked us to stand and observe a moment of reflection for those that served and especially for those who made the supreme sacrifice.
Betty-Lou read a letter from Brock Pres. Dave Atkinson thanking the club for the honour of a Paul Harris Fellow bestowed on him at a recent meeting
Niagara-on-the-Lake Rotary club announces June 11 as the date of annual bike trek.
Brian St. Hilaire advised of a meeting of the Major Grants Committee on Wed. May 11 at 5 P.M. at his office on the 10 th floor of 1 St. Paul St.
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Judith Barker |
Judith Barker announced a new feature at Rib Fest this year; a sponsor's tent located conveniently next to the beer tent. Some of the advantages for sponsors were described in a handout left on the table and they included signage, advertising, public address announcements, souvenir T-shirts, and beer and dinner tickets, all in varying amounts depending on the sponsorship fee. [What! No golf balls or watches?]
Norm Kreger asked about the generous beer ticket allotment and how it affected the Smart Serve servers. He was assured that the allotment would be per person present and not a total amount based on the fee paid.
Rotarians are to bring one gift to the meeting on May 12, 2005 Gift suggestions are baby blankets,tea towels, wash cloths, kitchen utensils, pillow cases, t-shirts. Toys, hats, school supplies, hair brushes & combs, bandaids, or clothing for babies, children or adults. This is to support World Community Service project which is to celebrate 100 years of Rotary by providing 100 gifts to 100 families in support of the VIVIR project in Tehuacan Mexico.
Ten Day Notice
Brian Hutchings Classification - Government, Regional, Social Assistance and Employment Opportunities. Proposed by Betty-Lou Souter.
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Jim Denham |
by Jim Denham, who ventured on dangerous ground with a number of Rules for Women. Something about learning to put the toilet seat down, shopping not being a sport, Columbus didn't ask for directions, and if a man asks his wife what's wrong? And she responds..Nothing, then he is going to believe that nothing is wrong. Now we know Jim is not naïve but he is letting the Internet affect his thinking.
Norm Kreger was Happy to confirm that the Smart Serve Course is Monday May 16, 7.00 p.m. in the boardroom on the 13 th floor of the Brock U. tower, A few spots remained to be filled.
Sam Walters happy to hear that his son in Belize had missed the uprising and was safe and enjoying his vacation.
Sangeeta Hollo was happy to be going on a vacation to Mexico with her husband in celebration of her 10 years at Deloitte.
Jaquelyn Bradshaw had just returned from Palm Springs and reported the golf clubs were barren ..no golfers. Could it be the fees? Not in Palm Springs.. more likely the heat!
Graham Kennedy was happy to have received a surprise party commemorating 10 years of ministering at his church and a gift of a George Upper drawing showing him as a participant in several sports.
New member Henry Klassen reported that when he was in South Africa, as a spouse of a female Rotarian, he was known as a Rotary Dick, and is now pleased to be known just as a Rotarian.
Lezlie Murch was happy to report that former member and dentist Jim Miles had donated many toothbrushes, toothpaste etc., to her 100 gifts for 100 friends drive, which concludes next week May 12 th . REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR GIFT.
She also said Bill Finlay reminded her that SOMETHING IS COMING!
John TeBrake reported that he was in school in the Netherlands when victory in Europe was attained and is happy 60 years later to be a native of the Netherlands and a citizen of Canada.
George Shepherd is happy that 20 members of his family from Halifax to Whistler will be visiting him.
Roger Segalin has heard the Caveners and is happy that Earl Alton has signed them to play at Ribfest.
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Art Wing |
Art Wing reported that after 31 years in Rotary, this was his first time he has served as Sgt. of Arms.well at least he made it before he became District Governor
Jagdish Mehta and Peggy Davidson were also happy, but I couldn't read my scribbles. Sorry!
Pres Betty-Lou was happy to wish all Mothers a Happy Mothers Day
50/50 Draw
Peggy Davidson had the opportunity to win over $600.00 but drew the Ace of Hearts
A very few early leavers were excused as noted by the Sgt. of Arms by the lonely $2 left as penalty.
Classification Talk -
Major Gordon Armstrong, Salvation Army
Ron Sloan first assured us he was not making a membership announcement, although he did have a few openings, but classification talks were some of most interesting and informative programs and he was pleased to introduce Major Gordon Armstrong.
Gordon has been Pastor at the Salvation Army Community Church in St.Catharines for 5 years.
His past experiences include time as a dog trainer for the Vancouver Police Dept. to help pay his way thru university, and as a bouncer at a marine land bar in Vancouver.
Gordon earned a Bachelor of Divinity{Pastoral major} from UBC, and a Bachelor of Education and a Masters of Divinity. He then completed 2 years of training to be ordained as a Salvation Army Officer.
Since ordination, he has served with the SA in Yorkton & Regina, Sask, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Lethbridge, Alb. , Owen Sound and St.Catharines.
In addition to his Canadian postings, he has served in disaster services work in the Manitoba/North Dakota floods; Honduras for Hurricane Mitch; the ice storm in Kingston, the Texas panhandle for the hurricane season and the 9/11 terrorist disaster in New York
Gord is married to Connie and they have 4 children.
He had been a member of 4 Rotary Clubs before Mac Gollert sponsored him into our club.
Gord successfully used a PowerPoint visual presentation to indicate that the Salvation Army is a faith based organization; a church with a strong social services commitment.
They cover people from delivering babies to comforting the aged in nursing homes, from missing persons to applying electronic bracelets on felons under home arrest. It is all about People.
Salvation Army Bands are famous throughout the world. Locally they play on Sundays during church service and at many nursing homes during the week.
At Christmas time they provide toys, food, and hampers.
They are on call to many local organizations.
Recently they were asked to put the kitchen back in order at the abandoned Sunset Haven in Welland to provide nourishment for 400 refugees who came thru the US from countries in Latin & South America. This proved to be challenging as most of the appliances had missing parts scavenged by the Region for other nursing homes.
They also used their well-outfitted van [it was out side the golf club; several members inspected it and were laudatory] at Fort Erie to provide sandwiches and beverages to other refugees stranded on buses and awaiting transfer back to Buffalo.
The van is often used at fires and other disaster scenes to provide food, comfort and counseling.
As a result of their experiences with the refugee situation Gordon spoke to the standing committee on Immigration and Family Unification in Kitchener and as a result of several presentations the government changed their regulations to make it easier for landed immigrants to apply as refugees.
One of his most traumatic experiences had to be the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York. A photo showed Gord standing in front of a great mound of twisted metal , concrete and other construction debris. The search was thorough but it was like 'pick up sticks' and eventually large sections were hauled to Ellis Island where they continued to separate it. There they found 3 bodies missed in earlier searches.
The Salvation Army was allocated a warehouse of 1 million sq. ft. at John F. Kennedy airport where they received, stocked and distributed many tons of donated supplies.
They were assisted for an entire month by 9 managers of Wal-Mart stores in setting up the warehouse. At the disaster site they were assisted by volunteers from the Southern Baptist Church in setting up and operating a kitchen from which the SA served food and performed counseling.
The SA is respected and operating world wide to the degree that during the Tsunami disaster they were able to provide 3000 volunteers who were already working in the district.
The Salvation Army operates a summer camp right on the lake at Goderich for Moms & Tots, children from low-income families, and children's music camps.
May is their official fundraising month; all money collected goes directly to their social programmes , none to church operations. The administration costs of emergencies are a small 10% [compared to other charities].
He concluded that no matter how mean or greedy others are, you be kind anyway, you succeed anyway, you build anyway, you be honest and frank anyway, do good anyway, and give the world the best you have.
They are always looking for volunteers even though they are one of the few charities that are trying to go out of business. There was no question period but I assume he meant that they pray that there will be no more disasters and no people in need of their services.
In the meantime they are there when there is need and we thank them for their service.
John Snowling gave the formal thanks of the club.
Pres. Betty-Lou added her thanks and spoke of the close cooperation of the Salvation Army and Community Care and presented Gord with the certificate indicating that funds to immunize 25 children against Polio will be contributed in his name.
The meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m. to accommodate some golf tee off times?
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Ron Sloan, Gord Armstrong and Betty-Lou Souter
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May 12th W.C.S.
May 19th Youth Exchange Chigusa's Farewell
May 26th G.S.E. Philippines Team
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